Conspiracy by Congress to defame me: Baba Ramdev

A day after the Utarakhand police lodged a case of kidnapping and assault against Baba Ramdev`s brother Rambharat and one of his close aides Naresk Malik, the yoga guru hit back on Tuesday, saying it is a conspiracy by the ruling Congress to defame him.

Haridwar: A day after the Utarakhand police lodged a case of kidnapping and assault against Baba Ramdev`s brother Rambharat and one of his close aides Naresk Malik, the yoga guru hit back on Tuesday, saying it is a conspiracy by the ruling Congress to defame him.

Addressing a press briefing in Indore, Ramdev said, "Since last night there is a headline on television channels accusing me and my brother of abduction. These are all false and baseless allegations against me. This is a conspiracy by the Congress government, both at the Centre and in Uttarakhand, to defame me."

Accusing the Congress of adopting a hostile attitude towards him, Ramdev said, "I am being portrayed as a criminal. It is clear from some incidents in recent past that I am being victimised and targeted by the ruling Congress party."

Calling himself as a victim of political game plans, the yoga guru hit back saying, "They are trying to infiltrate sex racketeers into the Patanjali Ashram, they are then caught and people say that Baba is a sex offender."
Ramdev further alleged that the ruling Congress is misusing the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to falsely implicate him in criminal cases.

Recalling his detention in UK sometimes back, Ramdev said, "I was detained in Heathrow Airport, saying there is a red alert against me. My image is being sullied across the world."

Referring to the alleged kidnapping incident, the yoga guru said, "A worker at the Patanjali Yog Peeth was caught red-handed stealing Rs 25-30 lakhs. He was detained at the ashram by our security men and later handed over to the local police. But unfortunately, my rivals projected the whole incident in a negative manner and the media also reported it like a case of kidnapping."

The yoga guru also made a direct attack on the Gandhi family, saying the whole world knows how the first family has been running the government.

"Under the Congress rule, the Constitution and the democracy have been brutally suppressed. Seers are being routinely defamed by the Congress government," he alleged.

The sharp reactions from the yoga guru came in the wake of reports claiming that a case of kidnapping was reistered against his brother Rmbharat and close aide at the Kankhal Police Station, which even triggered a protest by the BJP workers in Haridwar.
The protest started after the local police entered the Patanjali Yog Peeth and rescued an employee named Nitin Tyagi allegedly held "hostage" by Ramdev`s men.

On the other hand, Ramdev`s supporters said that Tyagi was caught on charge of stealing by the security staff at the Yog Peeth and was later handed over to the local police so there was no question of the police "rescuing" anybody.

Tyagi`s father, a resident of Rai village of Muzaffarnagar, had filed a complaint with local police that his son had been forcibly confined by Yog Peeth officials.

BJP workers led by former minister Madan Kaushik and Haridwar Mayor Manoj Garg then led a protest to the Kankhal Police Station and alleged that it was a conspiracy on part of the Congress government in Uttarakhand.

The BJP workers alleged that Tyagi, who was working in the factory of his own will, had stolen some articles for which he was being questioned by security staff.